Published on Sep 21, 2016The Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, or NEA Scout, is a robotic reconnaissance mission that will deploy a 6U CubeSat to fly by and return data from an asteroid representative of possible human destinations. Using a solar sail for its propulsion system, it will perform reconnaissance of an asteroid, take pictures and observe its position in space.

Launching on NASA's Space Launch System rocket, the CubeSat deployment animation starts at the 1:25 timecode with the solar sail deployment animation beginning at the 2:54 timecode.

The NEA Scout team is currently evaluating a range of targets, and is continually updating the candidate pool based on new discoveries and expected performance.

NEA Scout is one of three payloads selected by NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. These small satellites were chosen to address Strategic Knowledge Gaps (SKGs) and help inform research strategies and prioritize technology development for future human and robotic exploration. It is being developed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.